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1 Corinthians 6:12

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Psalms 145:18 (144:18)

The Lord is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Personal Challenge

There is a little twist in this verse that tells us that the Lord is near to all who call on Him. We must call upon Him in truth. Whose truth? His truth. If we have made God out in our own special image, then we do not have one that we can call out to in God’s truth. A sobering thought. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Encouraging Words

Our salvation is a process that lasts our entire life. It all starts with our baptism, which washes us clean of our sins through the power and work of Jesus Christ. Our sanctification comes through our chrismation of oil and the reception of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. The justification is the rest of our life living out our faith in Jesus Christ and doing His works. Glory be to God!

Psalms 145:8-9 (144:8-9)

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are upon all His works.

Encouraging Words

God is the creator of all. He bestowed His image into all of mankind, whether they follow Him or not. Jesus gave His pure and perfect life for all of creation, and therefore all of mankind. That is why this passage reads so true for all of us. God is gracious and merciful, longsuffering, good to all, and constantly bestowing His blessings upon His creation. Glory be to God!

1 Corinthians 5:12-13

For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Personal Challenge

Psalms 143:10 (142:10)

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God;
Your good Spirit shall guide me in the land of uprightness.

Personal Challenge

This is a prayer that we need to utter every day. We need God to teach us His will and to have the Holy Spirit to guide us in doing that will. It is so easy to circumvent God’s will with our own and to push Him into the corner, all the while doing things that make it look like we are following Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Corinthians 4:10

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

Personal Challenge

Again, we have a situation in the scripture where we see that God’s way of doing things is much different than man’s way. God used those are fools for Him to turn the world upside down and lay the foundation for the Church to flourish for 2,000 years. He uses the weak to be strong and defeat armies and civilizations without once picking up a weapon. He uses the dishonored, those who have been abused, beaten, and martyred, to be distinguished for eternity. God’s ways are not the ways of man. Glory be to God!

Psalms 143:1 (142:1)

O Lord, hear my prayer; Give ear to my supplication in Your truth;
Answer me in Your righteousness;

Personal Challenge

I love how God often drives His point home… if we are willing to listen. In my daily devotion, I am reading Daily Readings of the Early Church Fathers as well as the writings of Origen. Below is the content for today from the Daily Readings taken from St. Cyprian of Carthage,

APRIL 28

Concentrate When You Pray

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto Thee will I pray.

PSALM 5:2

When we stand praying, beloved brothers and sisters, we should be vigilant and serious with our whole heart, concentrating on our prayers. All fleshly and worldly thoughts must be set aside. The soul at prayer must think of nothing but the object of its prayer alone.

Thus the bishop, before his prayer, readies the minds of his brothers and sisters by saying, “Lift up your hearts.” When the people respond, “We lift them up to the Lord,” the bishop is reminded that he himself should think of nothing but the Lord. Close your heart against the enemy! Open it to God alone! Do not let God’s enemy come near at the time of prayer! He often creeps up on us, pierces our hearts, and by cunning trickery pulls our prayers away from God. We end up having one thing in our heart, and another in our voice! But it isn’t the sound of the voice, but the soul and mind, that should be praying to the Lord with a pure purpose.

How irresponsible it is, to be diverted and carried off by silly and irreverent thoughts when you are praying to the Lord! As if there were anything else you should be thinking, apart from the fact that you are speaking with God! How can you ask God to hear you, when you don’t even hear your own words? Do you want God to be mindful of you, when you aren’t mindful of yourself? This is to have no safeguard whatever against the enemy! If this is how you pray to God, you offend His majesty by the sloppiness of your prayer! This is being watchful with your eyes, and asleep in your heart! But the Christian, even though he sleeps with his eyes, should be awake in his heart.

Add to this the verse for today, which is somewhat randomly selected, then I see that God is driving the point home that I need to be more focused and intentional in my prayers. Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!